I started the transformation of my yards the same year the financial crisis hit. I thought that if worse came to worst I could sell my high-value fruit at the corner of Venice and Centinela. It was also my bit part to stimulate the local economy and make the world more sustainable. All the hardscape materials were recycled from previous walkways, driveway and the chimney. The fruit trees were selected by my friends who committed to harvesting "their" trees each year. The native plants were selected by my landscape designer for their textures, colors and drought tolerance. Today, I enjoy sitting out in the front patio watching the world go by, greeting the neighborhood dogs and their guardians as well as the young families that frequent my patch of Mar Vista.
This year, I added three more fruit trees in the backyard. My landscape designer tells me "that's it", there is no room for more trees after these three grow up. I hope to live in my house until I leave feet first. Before that happens, I hope my trees thrive and give many people a taste of their sweetness. Christie Kruse Landscape Gardening designed this garden. She came up with a plan to create an outdoor dining room in the front yard so that 20 people could be invited for a sit-down dinner. Irrigation is a combination of soaker hoses, drip, and sprinklers targeted to the fruit trees. In the winter, the irrigation is turned off. In spring and fall, the garden is watered once a week and twice a week in the summer. The composter was provided by the city for $20.
I'll have a special guest with me at my garden. Naomi Curland of Pachamama Alliance, whose mission is to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling human presence on this planet. The core outreach of the Pachamama Alliance is the Awakening the Dreamer symposium, but recently they've been developing coursework based on Project Drawdown. online. Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever to reverse global warming and offers the top 100 solutions to do this. Naomi will have information about how we can make changes in our lives and homes right now to become part of this movement to reverse global warming.
